Page 16 - Supreme Court

Next generation must carry forward institutions of justice: CJI Surya Kant

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday said the nation has overcome several formidable challenges in the last eight decades but much remains to be done, urging young law graduates and lawyers to be ready to shoulder the responsibilities of the future. Speaking at the national flag hoisting ceremony organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association on the occasion of 80th Independence Day at the apex court premises, CJI Kant said the journey of the nation does not end with what it has accomplished. "The journey of a nation does not end with what it has accomplished. Every achievement also brings with it a renewed sense of responsibility and duty. There is much that remains to be done, and many more miles to travel in our journey ahead," he said. The programme was attended by several senior judges, lawyers and court staff. Addressing young lawyers, Kant said the responsibility carried by the Bar since the days of the freedom struggle would soon rest on their shoulders. "To our y

Supreme Court quashes case against Rahul Gandhi over remarks on Savarkar

The case relates to remarks Gandhi made about Savarkar on November 17, 2022, during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Maharashtra's Akola district

NALSAR row: SC pulls up BCI over circular, backs students' right to protest

The Supreme Court on Friday took a stern view of a Bar Council of India (BCI) circular directing all state bar councils not to enrol any 2026 batch graduate of NALSAR University of Law as advocates, saying students have a right to protest. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said the BCI has nothing to do in the matter as it was a dialogue between him and the students. "They (students) have a right to protest. Who can stop them," the CJI, who was heading a bench which also comprised Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said. "It's a dialogue between me and students. Who are they (BCI) to interfere," the CJI said. The observations came after a plea challenging the BCI circular was mentioned for urgent listing. The bench issued notice to the BCI seeking its response on the plea and directed that no punitive action be taken against the students or faculty of the NALSAR at the instance of the BCI or any other state bar councils. The counsel appearing for the BCI told the ben

Supreme Court pulls up FSSAI over delay in front-of-pack warning labels

The Supreme Court gave the Centre two weeks to place its final decision on front-of-pack warning labels on record, warning that it would otherwise issue further directions

SC to examine Delhi Police's use of facial recognition tech during protests

A petition by CPI(M) MP A A Rahim alleges Delhi Police used facial recognition systems to identify protesters and shared the collected information with private companies

SC asks Centre to consider regional NCDRC benches to clear case backlog

The Supreme Court on Thursday took serious note of the pendency of cases in the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and asked the Centre to consider setting up regional and circuit benches to clear the backlog. The top court also called for performance audits of state and district consumer commissions. The forums should not become rehabilitation centres for retired judicial officers, it said. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked the Centre to consider setting up regional and circuit benches of the national consumer forum, saying a consumer must not be made to travel all the way to Delhi, instead, the forum must go to them. The bench asked the chairman of the NCDRC to furnish a status report on total pending cases, total complaints filed, average rate of disposal of cases, estimated time likely for disposal of a pending case and need for increasing the strength of members of the commission. The top court, which is ...

Govt agrees in principle to rail travel concessions for acid attack victims

The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has agreed in principle to formulate a policy for granting railway travel concessions to acid attack survivors to enable them to travel to well-equipped hospitals in cities for periodic treatment. The top court asked the Centre to consider the issue of granting travel concessions to acid attack survivors "liberally". A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of the submissions of Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave, appearing for the Ministry of Railways, and asked her to file the draft policy on record within six weeks. At the outset, the law officer said that a meeting has been held and it has been decided in principle that the acid attack survivors can be given railway concessions. She said the Centre proposes to extend the benefit under the "patient category" as it has reservations about placing acid attack survivors in a separate category among persons with

Neet stir: SC to hear plea against Delhi Police's use of facial recognition

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea filed by a Rajya Sabha lawmaker challenging the alleged deployment of facial recognition technology and other biometric surveillance measures by Delhi Police during the recent student protest at Jantar Mantar here. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed the matter be tagged with earlier petitions on the issue. Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for Rajya Sabha MP AA Rahim, said there are two issues which are a matter of concern-facial recognition of protestors done by Delhi police and data stored by private companies. "One maps your face and one is a vehicle. So spectacles are used and a vehicle is also used. And that data is all taken without permission. These private entities host the data. In violation of the rules," she submitted. The bench said it would hear the petition along with other related matters. Rahim, who is member of the Rajya Sabha from Kerala for the Commu

SC quashes Bombay HC order granting interim protection to Sunil Biyani

The apex court ruled that the High Court could not grant protection from a possible future arrest after finding Biyani's anticipatory bail application to be premature

SC agrees to hear plea on disruption of essential services during protests

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea which raised the issue of disruption of essential services during protests. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was told by the counsel appearing for the petitioner that essential services were disrupted when protests were underway and ingress and egress was disturbed. The counsel said there is no way of knowing who is a protestor and who is not and the issue of disruption of essential services during protests is arising across the country. "We appreciate your concerns but how to issue a direction for that," the bench told the counsel. The apex court tagged the petition with a separate pending plea which has contended that the Jantar Mantar in Delhi was no longer a suitable venue for protests as they cause inconvenience to local residents and disrupt essential services. The top court on August 3 agreed to examine the separate PIL which seeks an alternative arrangement for holding ...

SC seeks Centre's response on plea seeking probe into CJP-linked activities

The Supreme Court has sought responses of the Centre, the Bar Council of India and the CBI on a plea seeking a probe into alleged fake advocates, fraudulent law degrees and the activities of persons associated with the Cockroach Janta Party. The CJP came into being following a remark made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a court hearing in May and later it led a Gen-Z protest against NEET-UG paper leak. A bench comprising the CJI and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana on Tuesday took note of the petition filed by advocate Raja Choudhary, who appeared as a party-in-person. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has also been made a respondent. The plea also raises a broader issue concerning the alleged commercial exploitation, trademark appropriation and monetised circulation of oral observations made during judicial proceedings. It alleged that portions of the May 15 proceedings were selectively edited and subsequently circulated as memes, vid

Datanomics: Small increase in number of judges may not be enough

India's judicial strength has risen since 2019, but pending cases have grown faster, leaving the country with a severe shortage of judges relative to its population and workload

SC seeks status of appeals against West Bengal SIR voter deletions

The Court suggested that the existing tribunal mechanism could be improved through measures such as online access for judges

SC asks states to declare cancer 'notifiable disease' for early detection

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the 19 remaining states and Union territories to declare cancer a "notifiable disease" to ensure early detection and proper care of patients. The top court's direction came after it was informed that 17 of the 36 states and UTs have so far notified cancer as a "notified disease" in light of the recommendations made in a parliamentary standing committee report. The court had, on December 12 last year, issued notices and sought responses from the Centre and all the states and UTs on a public interest litigation (PIL) matter filed by renowned doctor Anurag Srivastava, seeking a direction to declare cancer a "notifiable disease" across the country to ensure early detection and proper care of patients. On Tuesday, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked the Centre as to why it is not issuing "some mandatory guidelines for all states/UTs", saying there should be uniform policy. Additional Solici

Bike taxis pose safety, insurance concerns: Karnataka to Supreme Court

Karnataka has challenged a High Court ruling allowing motorcycles to be registered and permitted as bike taxis, citing passenger safety and insurance protection concerns

SC seeks Centre's reply on plea for speedy trials of drug-trafficking cases

The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre and others on a plea seeking directions to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking, including a time-bound probe and trial of narcotics cases, confiscation of properties of traffickers and creation of a uniform investigation protocol. Observing that the problem is "very serious", a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said coordinated efforts by expert agencies were required to deal with the menace. Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who has filed the petition, told the bench that a similar issue is already pending before the apex court. "The problem is very serious," the bench observed, adding that some kind of a solution has to be there by the expert agencies. Upadhyay said some of the countries, including Singapore, have taken several effective steps to deal with the problem of drug trafficking. The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, has sought directions to th

SC asks authorities to set up 2 special courts for Manipur violence cases

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Manipur and Assam governments and others to consider setting up two special trial courts to exclusively hear CBI and NIA cases arising from the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur. Taking stock of the status of investigations into cases arising from the ethnic violence in Manipur, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also directed the authorities to compile details of cases in which chargesheets have been filed so that victims, their families and legal counsel can access the relevant records. The bench also directed the registrar general of the high court concerned to submit a status report on the issue before the next date of hearing. "The authorities shall consider setting up two separate exclusive courts, one for dealing with the CBI cases and another for dealing with the NIA cases arising out of the Manipur violence. The registrar general of the high court shall submit a status report in this rega

SC to hear Tamil Nadu plea seeking Cauvery water from Karnataka on Aug 13

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on August 13 a plea of the Tamil Nadu government seeking directions to the Karnataka government for immediate release of the share of Cauvery water to it. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of submissions made by the counsel representing the state government that in a rain-deficient year Tamil Nadu was not getting its due share of Cauvery water. "We will list it for hearing on Thursday," the CJI said. The Joseph Vijay led-state government on August three approached the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Karnataka government for immediate release of the share of Cauvery water.

SC's motor TP direction may raise insurer commissions, consumer costs

The Supreme Court's proposed longer mandatory cover could raise upfront costs and insurer commission pressure, while doing little to address uninsured commercial vehicles

Ideological pollution at root of environmental degradation: Ex-SC judge

Ideological pollution is the root of all environmental degradation, and it continues to drive ecological damage through a lack of civic awareness, diminishing sensitivity toward nature, and social and political inaction, former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay Oka has said. Speaking at a gathering at Dayanand Law College in Latur on Saturday, the former judge said that while citizens possess a constitutional right to live in a pollution-free environment, society continues to suffer due to widespread indifference towards following the law. Oka was the chief guest at the inauguration of a new seminar hall and spoke at the 'Nyay Samvad: Law, Environment and Citizens' programme at the college. "Along with air, water and noise pollution, there is another, less visible form of pollution - ideological pollution - which is at the root of all other forms of environmental degradation," Oka said. He noted that while citizens have a constitutional right to live in a pollution-free environment